Keeping healthy is a priority for virtually everyone, and part of staying healthy is having an active lifestyle. Many people take up a sport or exercise to stay fit – but no matter what activity you choose, injuries can happen.
Repetitive-motion injury, high-impact injury, and even just pushing yourself too hard can all necessitate a visit to a sports medicine doctor. Let’s talk about some of the main injuries these medical professionals treat and how a sports physician can help you.
Injuries Often Treated by a Sports Medicine Doctor
The following types of injuries are frequently diagnosed and treated by a sports doctor:
Wrist and Hand Injuries
When playing tennis or golf, for example, you can develop a repetitive-motion injury from constantly performing the same action over and over again, which causes strain to the muscles and can even cause pressure on the nerves. In ballgames such as tennis and baseball, the ball can hit your hand or you might injure your hand and wrist when breaking a fall.
Elbow Injuries
Athletes sustain injuries to their elbows so frequently that there are names for some of them, including tennis elbow, golfer’s elbow, and pitcher’s elbow. These are repetitive-motion injuries that are caused by strains in the muscles and tendons of the arm.
Shoulder Injuries
Like with elbow injuries, repetitive motion can injure an athlete’s shoulder, especially repeated overhead movements that cause a torn rotator cuff. The tendons and muscles in an athlete’s shoulder can overextend and stretch, leading to small tears in the structure that holds the ball-and-socket shoulder joint in place. This can cause swelling, pain, and tenderness, and may decrease your range of motion.
Fractures
Although our bones are incredibly sturdy and strong, they can break upon severe or awkward impact. Usually, a fall or a strike is the cause of a fracture when playing sports. Fractures are categorized by different types, based on the severity and location of the injury.
